John Calipari issues Twitter-pology to Landon Slone

Sorry to Landon Sloan. Heard he waited to speak to me in my office but I didn’t know. Really sorry. We are still trying to get organized!!

He and his staff messed up and took responsibility for it, which is respectable, although you would think someone would tell Coach Cal how to spell the kid’s name. It has been a busy couple months for John Calipari and this is something that regrettably fell through the cracks. I hope Calipari takes some time to reach out to Landon personally to apologize, because Landon worked very hard for the season he wore UK blue.

Anyway, what I have heard is that Landon made his decision to leave pretty much right after Gillispie was let go. He wasn’t close with the rest of the team and had a great relationship with Billy G. His departure meant that Landon had no shot at earning the scholarship he thought he could earn and Landon is a good enough player to get his education payed for somewhere, possibly Morehead State.

Honestly, I am somewhat frustrated by the UK fanbase at this point. How many times have you heard complaints about the fact that Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie never had full control over their roster? People say that the administration cut the legs out from UK’s two last coaches because they didn’t have the ability to make the kind of decisions that John Calipari is making right now, then the borderline players would suffer the brunt of the fans frustration for poor play or taking a spot on the bench.

The decisions that are being made are not easy ones. They are not easy for Calipari, they are not easy for the administration, and they are not easy for the players. You can’t complain about something the coaches aren’t allowed to do, then complain just as loudly when Calipari makes the exact same decisions that we all wanted the last coaches to be able to make.

The situation is not ideal, but the UK roster as it was constituted featured players that didn’t belong on a UK roster under scholarship. What makes that difficult is that it’s by no fault of a player like AJ Stewart or Donald Williams that they were under scholarship in the first place. They worked hard to get to that point and were given a ride by a former coach for whatever reason (misevaluation, trial scholarship, or whatever else). The rule as it stands right now allows coaches to review scholarships on an annual basis, so a coach has the right to determine who will receive scholarships.

I apologize for the rant, but I think it’s necessary to maintain proper perspective when we are talking about this roster situation since it is such a sensitive topic.

About Nick Evans

Nick is the founder of StraitPinkie.com and Co-Host of the Sunday Morning Hangover with StraitPinkie.com that airs on ESPN 680 every Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon. If interested in contributing or advertising with StraitPinkie.com, e-mail Nick at nickev14@gmail.com.